Requires a vast amount of land and water to build a dam and reservoir
Questions
How is it obtained?
How efficient is it?
How available is it? How long will it last?
What are the environmental impacts?
What are the effects on people?
What are its uses?
What is the cost?
Hydroelectricity is produced at an average of .85 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh).
How does it work?
Force of falling waterà potential energy built up at high dam
Potential energyà mechanical energy to turn turbine
Turbine turns electromagnetsà creates current in coils of water
Current sent through transformeràvoltage increased
Worlds Biggest hydroelectric power plant
Built from 1975-1991
Built between Brazil and Paraguay
In 2000 --> made up 20% of power in Brazil and 94% in Paraguay
7,919 meters long and maximum height of 196 meters
A hydroelectric damn found on the Yangtze River in Hubei province of China
Cost three times more than the hoover dam in the US (just under 30 billion US dollars)
Displaced 1.2 million people, but stops floods that killed 1,000,000 people since the beginning of the 20th century
More than 100 towns are underwater because of this dam
The dam's hydroelectricity will create the same amount of energy 18 nuclear power plants
"By severing the mighty river and slowing the flow of its water, the dam will cause pollution from industrial and residential sources to concentrate in the river, rather than being flushed out at sea."- Jin Hui
Advantages
- Renewable
- Cheap
- Offsets fossil fuels
- Predictable
- Job creation
- Reliable technology
- Great storage
- Dependable energy
- Water storage
- Brings development and technology
Disadvantages- High investment costs
- Dependent upon precipitation
- Loss of fish habitat
- Changes in water quality
- Displacement of local communities
- Requires a vast amount of land and water to build a dam and reservoir
QuestionsHow is it obtained?
How efficient is it?
How available is it? How long will it last?
What are the environmental impacts?
What are the effects on people?
What are its uses?
What is the cost?
- Hydroelectricity is produced at an average of .85 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh).
How does it work?Generator for a hydroelectric dam
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/6194-energy-hydroelectricity-video.htm
3 Gorges Dam
Sources:
http://new.wvic.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7&Itemid=44 http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/59.htmlhttp://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/hydropower-profile.html
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat1p1.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/hydropower-profile.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.superpower/three.gorges/